A typical foot strap binding for a kite board or windsurf board is constructed of a webbing strap or a molded strap with a soft pad or cushion as an enclosure to hold a person's foot securely without digging in or otherwise causing pain or discomfort. The size of the strap can be adjusted by removing the strap mounting screws, readjusting the overall length and position of the strap and re-attaching the strap to the board using different board attachment positions.
Adjustment on the strap binding is difficult to do or impractical when the board is in use. This process usually must be done on land with hand tools. Quick adjustments or fine tuning are not possible. Each time the user needs to make an adjustment, he or she must stop, or go to shore (water sports) to properly make this adjustment. A typical problem occurs when a user changes his or her foot volume by adding a water boot or shoe. Also if riders with different foot volumes use the same foot strap such as for boards used by an instruction school where several riders use the same board or in a rental scenario—they would need to make this volume adjustment. The most common problem of a typical foot strap is the need to keep the binding loose somewhat to get the foot in and out of the binding easily. The user is not able to quickly tighten beyond what is typical for entry/exit for good performance hold, but still quickly and easily release when needed.
Some foot straps are secured with hook-and-loop fasteners (e.g., Velcro™). However, the user must still be on land to properly adjust because the Velcro strap must be completely disengaged to reset the straps. Furthermore, Velcro tends to decrease in effectiveness when used in a dirty environment such as may be found on a beach or shore. Small changes due to riding the board may lose an effective hold over time.
Attempts have been made to solve these problems, but attempts to solve these problems do not achieve the ease of use or the effective tightening desired.